W Michelle Harris
Associate Professor
School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
585-475-4487
Office Hours
Fall Office Hours: Tuesdays 9 - 10:50am and Thursdays 10 - 11:50am
Office Location
Office Mailing Address
300 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, NY 14623-5608
W Michelle Harris
Associate Professor
School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
Education
BS, Carnegie Mellon University; MPS, New York University
Bio
W. Michelle Harris is an associate professor in RIT/IGM's New Media Interactive Development program and RIT/MAGIC resident faculty. Harris is a digital media artist who uses code as a medium for engaging discussions as a Black woman in American culture. Harris creates interactive installations and produces live-mixed visuals for collaborative performances. Her artwork has been shown at such diverse venues as the ACM SIGGRAPH, World Maker Faire, and INST-INT, as well as regional venues such as Visual Studies Workshop, Gallery 74, the Baobab Cultural Center, Community Folk Art Center, Schwienfurth Memorial, and Squeaky Wheel. Harris has also done live-mixed visuals for performances in collaboration with Juanita Suarez, fivebyfive, Dave Rivello, Reenah Golden, and for almost every Rochester Fringe Festival, BIODANCE.
Select Scholarship
Shows/Exhibits/Installations
Harris, W. Michelle. Shugabanni. Mar. 2023. Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY. Installation.
Dunwoody, Shawn and W. Michelle Harris. Composers Crossing 2.0. Jun. 2022. Rochester International Jazz Festival, Rochester, NY. Installation.
BIODANCE, , W. Michelle Harris, and Dave Rivello Ensemble. BIODANCE/Elemental Forces Redux. Sep. 2022. Rochester Fringe Festival, Theater @ Innovation Square, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Harris, W. Michelle. "In Their Wake", "Shugabanni". Oct. 2023. Learning Social Justice, Tower Fine Arts Center, SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY. Installation.
BIODANCE, , W. Michelle Harris, and Lauren K. Alleyne. BIODANCE at Home. Feb. 2021. Adelaide Fringe Festival, Adelaide, Australia. Performance.
BIODANCE, , W. Michelle Harris, and Lauren K. Alleyne. BIODANCE at Home. Jun. 2021. Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Cincinnati, OH. Performance.
Harris, W. Michelle. In Their Wake. Aug. 2021. 67th Rochester-Finger Lakes Biennial, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.
BIODANCE, , W. Michelle Harris, and Dave Rivello Ensemble. BIODANCE/Elemental Forces. Sep. 2021. Rochester Fringe Festival, Theater @ Innovation Square, Rochester, NY. Performance.
BIODANCE, and W. Michelle Harris. BIODANCE: Bridge to Paradise. Feb. 2020. Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY. Performance.
BIODANCE, , W. Michelle Harris, and Lauren K. Alleyne. BIODANCE at Home. Sep. 2020. Rochester Fringe Festival, Rochester, NY. Performance.
BIODANCE, , et al. The Fragile Corridor. Sep. 2019. Rochester Fringe Festival, Strasenburgh Planetarium, Rochester Museum & Science Center, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Harris, W. Michelle. In Their Wake. Oct. 2019. Current Seen Biennial, Democrat & Chronicle newspaper building, Rochester, NY. Installation.
Harris, W. Michelle. “Oh Really, Lydia,” “Hooray Lydia,” and “He Hurt Me, Lydia,”. Oct. 2019. Current Seen: Seeing Change, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.
Harris, W. Michelle, et al. Black Magic Slays Magical Negro. Feb. 2018. Gallery 74 (the Black House), Rochester, NY. Exhibit.
BIODANCE, , W. Michelle Harris, and Garret Reynolds, composer. Loom. May 2018. BIODANCE 12th Anniversary Concert, Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY. Performance.
BIODANCE, , et al. Aria. Sep. 2018. Rochester Fringe Festival, Lyric Theatre, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Harris, W. Michelle. Can't/Breathe Mirror. 22 Jan. 2017. InstInt EXPO of the InstInt Conference, New Orleans, LA. Installation.
Harris, W. Michelle. “Flawless Ladies" and “Can't/Breathe Mirror”. Jun. 2017. “Shape of a Pocket,” at Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center, Buffalo, NY. Performance.
BIODANCE, , et al. Labyrinth. Sep. 2017. Rochester Fringe Festival, Strasenburgh Planetarium of the Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Harris, BIODANCE, Sound ExChange, and W. Michelle. Anomaly. Sep. 2016. Strasenburgh Planetarium of the Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Tremblay-Gaudette, Josephine Anstey, Sandy Baldwin, Al Biles, W. Michelle Harris, Charlie Roberts, Rick Scott, and Gabriel. Bad Objects: A Night of New Media from RIT. 30 Nov. 2016. Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Harris, W. Michelle. Motion with Motion: Dance Performance and Video. 2013. Captivate Conference, Austin. Performance.
SoundExChange, W. Michelle Harris , BIODANCE,. Anomaly. 23 Sep. 2013. Fringe Fest at the Strasenburgh Planetarium of the Rochester Museum & Science Center, Rochester. Performance.
Harris, W. Michelle. Studying Lydia from Birth. 3 May 2013. First Friday Gallery Night at the Ithaca Generator, Ithaca. Exhibit.
Ferry, Peter. Sound ExChange : All Eyes and Ears. By Joe Geigel, et al. 28 Feb. 2013. University of Rochester, Rochester. Exhibit.
Harris, W. Michelle. Anomaly. By BIODANCE and Sound ExChange. 21-28 Sep. 2013. Strasenburgh Planetarium of the Rochester Museum & Science Center, Fringe Festival, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Harris, W. Michelle. Reflection and Identity. By W. Michelle Harris and Michael Roman. 26 Feb. 2012. Community Folk Art Center, Syracuse, NY. Exhibit.
Harris, W. Michelle. No Boundaries: New Expressions In African American Art. By Hiram Cray, et al. 4 Feb. 2011. Baobab Cultural Center, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.
Full Length Book
Michelle, Harris, W. “Black Women, Violence and Resistance: Margaret Garner” poster 11x17. ISBN: 9798888900307 ed. New York, NY: Sojourners for Justice series, Haymarket Books, 2023. Print.
Peer Reviewed/Juried Poster Presentation or Conference Paper
Harris, W. Michelle. "Creating In Their Wake." Proceedings of the ARTs + Change Conference. Ed. University of Rochester. Rochester, NY: n.p..
BIODANCE, and W. Michelle Harris. "The Fragile Corridor: Filling the Dome." Proceedings of the RIT Frameless Labs VR/AR Symposium. Ed. Joe Geigel. Rochester, NY: Rochester Institute of Technology.
Harris, W. Michelle. "In Their Wake." Proceedings of the Race, Space, Place Initiative unConference: DATUM. Ed. Tressie McMillan Cottom. Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University.
Harris, W. Michelle. "Aria: Live Motion Visuals for Dance Performance." Proceedings of the Frameless Labs VR/AR Symposium. Ed. Elizabeth Goins. Rochester, NY: n.p..
Harris, W. Michelle. "Loom: Shadow Stage Visuals for Dance Performance." Proceedings of the Frameless Labs Symposium. Ed. na. Rochester, NY: n.p..
Harris, W. Michelle. "Can't/Breathe Mirror (winner Judges' Award)." Proceedings of the New Media Consortium Summer Conference. Ed. New Media Consortium. Rochester, NY: n.p..
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Harris, W. Michelle. "Learn Creative Coding: Begin Programming with the Processing Language." Long Beach Indie Digital Edutainment Conference. Long Beach Indie Festival. Long Beach, CA. 30 Aug. 2014. Conference Presentation.
Harris, W. Michelle, Janelle Hobson, and Janine Lewis. "Big Question Roundtable: Community Building via Technology." Long Beach Indie Digital Edutainment Conference. Long Beach Indie Festival. Long Beach, CA. 30 Aug. 2014. Conference Presentation.
Harris, W. Michelle. "Motion with Motion: Dance Performance and Video." Captivate Conference. Captivate Conference. Austin, TX. 7 Oct. 2013. Conference Presentation.
Published Review
Harris, W. Michelle. "Mary Flanagan, Critical Play: Radical Game Design." Rev. of Critical Play: Radical Game Design, by Mary Flanagan. American Journal of Play Sep. 2011: 261-263. Print.
Installation/Exhibit/Performance
Harris, W. Michelle. Her Ghosts, Mirrors and Pixels. Four Walls Gallery, Rochester, NY. 5 February-5 March 2010. Exhibition.
Handy, Andrea, W. Michelle Harris, and Xanthe Matychak. Riviére Memoir. World Maker Faire New York 2010. New York, NY. 25-26 September 2010. Exhibition.
Suarez, Juanita and ensemble. Be Here Now. Musselman Arts Triathlon, Smith Opera House. Geneva, NY. 16 July 2010. Exhibition.
Currently Teaching
IGME-101
New Media Interactive Design and Algorithmic Problem Solving I
4 Credits
This course provides students with an introduction to problem solving, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking that is relevant across the field of new media. Students are introduced to object-oriented design methodologies through the creation of event-driven, media-intensive applications. Students will explore the development of software through the use of a range of algorithmic concepts related to the creation of applications by writing classes that employ the fundamental structures of computing, such as conditionals, loops, variables, data types, functions, and parameters. There is an early emphasis on object oriented concepts and design.
IGME-102
New Media Interactive Design and Algorithmic Problem Solving II
4 Credits
This course provides students a continued introduction to problem solving, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking that is relevant across the field of new media. As the second course in programming for new media students, this course continues an object-oriented approach to programming for creative practice. Topics will include re-usability, data structures, rich media types, event-driven programming, loaders, XML, object design, and inheritance. Emphasis is placed on the development of problem-solving skills as students develop moderately complex applications.
IGME-609
Programming for Designers
3 Credits
This course is an introduction to programming for students with a background in design. Students will write programs to construct and control interactive, media-rich experiences. Students will employ fundamental concepts of object-oriented computer programming such as classes, variables, control structures, functions, and parameters in their code. Students will develop their problem solving skills and begin building a logical toolkit of algorithms and program design strategies. Students will extend existing software objects provided by the instructor, as well as create new objects of their own design. Programming projects will be required.
In the News
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October 4, 2019
![Man walks by art exhibit displayed in window.]()
Why a D&C window will be an art exhibit for a month for the 'Current Seen' exhibition
The Democrat and Chronicle features artist W. Michelle Harris, associate professor in the School of Interactive Games and Media.
